Keeping the Faith. Telling the Truth.

Tag Archives: family

Great news! blogger, Gabriel Syme, already Dad to a little toddler daughter, is now father to a second bouncing baby daughter. The newborn – Felicity Hope – arrived on Tuesday evening, 28th November, weighing 7 Ibs 9oz. She and her mum are both well.

Congratulations, Gabriel Syme – and a huge welcome to little Felicity Hope, named after an early martyr and a theological virtue! Nothing like holding a newborn to a very high standard!

There’s so much bad news to report and discuss, so here’s an opportunity to relax and congratulate our fellow blogger on this wonderful news.

A word of warning, though – a “daddy’s girl” she may be, but is this what lies ahead?

On September 8, 2008 the American Tradition, Family, Property (TFP openly and unashamedly defended traditional marriage at the University of California – Berkeley. For this (and similar protests, e.g. against abortion) they are to be warmly commended – Editor.

However, there are some concerns about the TFP – an organisation we’ve never discussed on this blog. Seems its hour has come! Here’s why…

One person, a gentleman and long time reader of Catholic Truth, took offence during our recent Conference, angry that one of the speakers warned against trusting organisations such as Britain Needs Fatima (BNF) and America Needs Fatima (ANF), because they do not give the full truth about Fatima. This, as a quick scan of the ANF (BNF) website reveals, is absolutely true. Check out their “Campaigns” list and there is no appeal to the Pope either carry out the Consecration of Russiain the manner prescribed by Our Lady, or to reveal the full text of the Third Secret.

I’ve exchanged emails with this gentleman in the past few days, trying (unsuccessfully) to convince him that his anger is misplaced, that it is evident from their own website, that the ANF group is misleading people, but he’s having none of it. It turns out that he is a devoted adherent of the Tradition, Family, Property (TFP) group, and the America/Britain Needs Fatima groups are run by the TFP – he will not hear a word of criticism against them, so that got me wondering, asking around, checking online, and I found that there is a school of thought out there which considers the TFP to be a cross between a cult and a secret society.

In one of his emails, this gentleman referred to “false rights” so I asked him to explain and possibly give an example: “The Revolution knows that there will always be a reaction by some of the better elements in public opinion to what it is doing, so it prepares a person or group to divert the good reaction into a false solution…[one of these false solutions] is Cardinal Cassaroli [who] was deliberately against tradition and the interests of the Church. [Another] is Marcel Lefebvre. I stress that this is my opinion, I could be mistaken, but looking at the circumstances and the ‘fruit’ [of the SSPX], I don’t think I am…”

Applying the concept of “false rights” to the Fatima Message, my correspondent adds: Most “false rights like to put most of the burden of Fatima on the pope, and not fight the cultural Marxism which surrounds and pervades our society, making the coming chastisement inevitable.”

This appears to be saying that the fulfilment of the Fatima Message is reliant on our actions to overcome the prevailing Godless culture. But that’s not what Our Lady said. She “put the burden on the pope”, to carry out her requests to consecrate Russia in the prescribed manner thus winning the promised period of world peace, and to publish the full text of the Third Secret.

So, what about the TFP group: they do wonderful work in protesting immorality in various ways and the young TFP men – like those featured in the above video – are to be admired and congratulated on their courage. Are the critics of the TFP wrong then? IS the TFP a cult – or is it a valuable apostolate, helping to fight to restore Catholic morality in western secular societies?

Pope Francis has given families some practical advice during [yesterday] morning’s General Audience in St. Peter’s Square [13 May, 2015].

Continuing with his catecheses on the family, the Holy Father reminded the faithful of three words that “must be in the home”: “May I, Thank You, Pardon Me [permesso, grazie, scusa].”

For happy family life, the Pontiff said, these phrases are required in our hearts, homes and communities, and mean more than just having good manners.

Speaking on asking ‘May I?,’ the Pontiff said we should not just assume we have the right to certain things. When we ask this permission, he said we establish trust and respect among our loved ones.

Proving his point, Francis recalled the words of Jesus in the book of Revelation: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me “(3:20).

“Even the Lord asks permission to enter! Do not forget that.”

On saying ‘Thank you,’ the Pontiff said our society has a great need for gratitude, which makes us more sensitive to the dignity of the human person and the demands of social justice.

“Listen well to this: a Christian that doesn’t know how to thank is one that has forgotten the language of God. This is ugly.”

‘Sorry,’ the Pope acknowledged is the hardest of the three to say, yet he noted that when it’s not used many bad things happen, especially in marriage. He asked those gathered to ponder how we can be pardoned if we are not willing to forgive.

“Have you fought?” Francis asked. “The problem is not the fighting,” he said as much as letting it last into the next day.

“Never finish the day without making peace,” even if it’s not easy, the Pope said. “A little gesture, a caress, without words,” he pointed out, can be enough, for it “stops the infection.”

The Holy Father invited all those gathered to repeat the three Italian words: ‘permesso grazie, scusa.’ After underscoring these “are the truly the words for entering into the love of the family,” Francis called on them to say, “Never finish the day without making peace.” Source

Comment

Pope Francis makes some very good points in the above homily. His Scripture reference and insight is compelling: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me “(3:20). “Even the Lord asks permission to enter! Do not forget that.”

Share your practical tips for making life more pleasant in the home or workplace or simply just getting along with people. Quotes from Scripture or the saints which have deepened your insights would be very interesting. I, for one, could use the help!

If anyone feels motivated to go along to this course 19th – 20th July please feel free to report back to us – we’d be more than interested to publish your findings, good and/or bad.

After a fairly quick skim however, I think it’s safe to say that anyone who clicks on the link to the Family Support Foundation website and studies the content of the courses for both the engaged and those serving life sentences (!) in marriage, there are several danger signals. Can you spot them? Or, is this a course that Scots Catholics might comfortably support? Should we encourage couples, married and those who are engaged to be married, to attend?

Blogger Petrus became a Dad for the 4th time at 13.57 on 5th February, when beautiful little Emily Therese weighed in at 9 lbs 6.

Petrus remembered that we’d had a thread to mark the birth of his baby son, Patrick, and his other two sons were also welcomed into the world on this blog so we decided to launch this thread in order to allow us all to offer our warmest congratulations to Petrus, his wife and sons, as well as giving a huge and loving welcome to baby Emily Therese. God bless Emily Therese!

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